Soldering Copper Foil

How to Solder Stained Glass

Stained glass soldering joins all your foil-wrapped pieces of glass together by running a bead of solder along each seam. It isn’t the easiest technique to learn but it’s one of the most exciting, as it allows you pick up and see your project for the very first time.

Stained Glass Soldering

It’s best to start by holding all your pieces together with small blobs of solder to hold them in position and stop them moving about. This is called ‘tack soldering’. My Stained Glass Made Perfect online class has a whole module on soldering, to help you create smooth edges and running a bead. Nothing spoils a piece more than lumpy solder! You can see if it’s right for you here.

1. Positioning the glass

Stick your tracing paper pattern on to the board and place all your foiled pieces carefully in position

If you don’t have batons, tape them together in a few key places so that they can’t move

If you have a homasote board and pins, you can pin them securely in place

Tack Soldering Stained Glass

2. Tack soldering

Use a stained glass soldering iron that is at LEAST 80 Watts (I use a Hakko FX-601) and tack your panel together with soldering to hold it in place.

To do this, brush a little liquid flux on the crucial joins and melt one blob of solder on each of these joins

You’re then save to remove the masking tape

Making a Soldering Joint

3. Soldering the seams

This is not as easy as it looks in some videos! Don’t worry if you’re not making a perfect line straight away, it takes lots of practice to know how much solder to put on and how fast to move along the seam.
The 3 most important things to remember are:

good soldering is a balancing act between heat and time. If your iron is hotter you need to move faster. Conversely, if you prefer working more slowly then turn the heat down if you have a rheostat or change tips if you have a tip controlled iron.

to keep the tip of the iron silver and clean by wiping it on a wet sponge every now and again

to make sure you have enough flux to melt the solder. Keep adding more when necessary

What shall I do when I get to an edge?

If you want to put a zinc or lead came frame around the project, stop soldering 1/4″ short of the edge
If you’re making a free-hanging suncatcher, keep soldering right up to the edge

Making Stained Glass Soldering Seams

Brush flux along one or two seams to start with so that it doesn’t evaporate. Don’t put too much flux on as it can can get trapped when you solder the other side and bubble up, causing craters

With the hot soldering iron in one hand and the solder in the other, move them both slowly along the seam together

Position the solder a little way up from the end of the tip so that you don’t accidentally stick it to the foil

The solder will melt and run down on to the foil

Make sure the iron tip touches and heats the foil too so that the union between solder and foil is as strong as possible

There should be enough solder to cover the foil and fill any gaps between the pieces. Filling these gaps with solder strengthens the piece.

Stop soldering by either moving the iron tip sideways on to the glass quickly (don’t stay on the glass with the tip) or lift vertically off the seam

When you reach a join, don’t stop! Follow the solder through in all directions about 1/2″, keeping each ‘tail’ hot. Return to each ‘tail’ and pick up the seam from there. It’s neater if you pick up on a single seam than on a join

The solder should be beaded (slightly rounded) rather than flat

4. Making stained glass soldering neat

Sometimes the solder just looks a mess. Luckily, there’s a technique that works like magic – the ‘hold and lift’ method.
Instead of moving the iron along with the solder, you keep it in the same place and allow the heat to work.

Making stained glass soldering neat using the hold and lift method

Flux the area and clean your tip to make sure of the best results

Hold the tip flat over the problem area for 2-3 seconds, and then remove it upwards

Magic! a neat join is achieved

Soldering stained glass, reverse side

5. Soldering the reverse side

Carefully turn the panel over. Some of the solder might have leaked through. That’s okay, just make sure you use less solder in these areas

Repeat the process as above

If you need to rework any areas make sure you let it cool down first, clean and reflux. Otherwise it may leak through to the first side.

Stained Glass Soldering – Troubleshooting

My solder disappears between the gaps!

If your cutting isn’t 100% accurate (like the rest of us!) and there’s a bit of a gap between the pieces, solder will drain through to the other side. This isn’t a problem, as you’ll deal with it when you turn the project over.
Just keep adding small amounts of solder until it eventually beads up.

Removing excess solder on the reverse side with the iron

I’ve soldered the second side neatly, only to find that it has leaked through to mess up my first side. There’s too much solder, how do I get it off?

Luckily, just as you can add solder to the seam, you can take it off too.

Move the tip of the iron quickly across the seam where there’s too much solder, and flick it off onto a heat-resistant surface. You can always pick it up again and reuse it where needed.

Use the hold and lift method described in 4. above to neaten the area afterwards.

Making stained glass soldering smooth

My flux doesn’t work and the solder doesn’t melt.

This could be one of 3 things:

the flux has dried up or drained away and you need to reapply it

your soldering iron is not maintaining temperature and you are experiencing a ‘cold spot’. Be patient and it will get back up to top temperature. If you have a dial controller with or on your iron, turn it up a fraction and test it out.

the tip of the iron is dirty from the flux and solder, and needs wiping clean on a damp sponge to allow it to work properly. Sometimes the tips get a black residue on them which is difficult to remove. I use a tip cleaner to restore the tip to its shiny glory.

How to remove stained glass solder from glass

The solder has stuck to the glass and I’m frightened it will crack it.

Dont’ panic! Brush flux over the solder and seam, and ‘gather’ it up with the hot iron by holding the iron on the seam. You’re right, you will have to be quick so that the glass doesn’t break, but it’s unusual for that to happen.

Helpful Resources

I’ve found this really great 3.45 minute video from Delphi Glass that shows stained glass soldering. Wow, this woman is good! Don’t worry if you can’t do it this quickly, that will take a lot of practice.

Stained glass soldering for copper foil

Once you’ve soldered both sides and you’re happy with it, you’re ready for either Zinc Framing or, if you’re not framing your piece, Soldering Edges.

https://everythingstainedglass.com/stained-glass-solderinghttps://everythingstainedglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/smooth-stained-glass-solder.jpghttps://everythingstainedglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/smooth-stained-glass-solder-150x150.jpg2018-10-10T16:12:50+00:00Milly FrancesCopper Foil ConstructionStained Glass TutorialsBeginner,Cornerstone,Soldering Copper FoilHow to Solder Stained Glass
Stained glass soldering joins all your foil-wrapped pieces of glass together by running a bead of solder along each seam. It isn't the easiest technique to learn but it's one of the most exciting, as it allows you pick up and see your project for...Milly FrancesMillyFrances[email protected]AdministratorEverything Stained Glass

16 Comments Already

Hello!
I’ve just got to the soldering stage of my first copper foil project and have a plan to tack, then tin the front, turn & bead the back for practice, then turn and bead the front.
I started by making a frame of lead came on three sides and think it better to remove the lead border after the tacking stage as I can quite easily see myself getting solder on these accidentally. I plan to tin to the edges but bead to within a quarter of an inch as I would like to get the piece framed with wood.
My main problem is time and a paranoia about oxidisation. I have just bought some Kwik-Clean and have read around about it but am not sure if I can use it after I have finished for the day, then flux over it about a week later to continue the project. I don’t have my own tools and use workshop space that is only available weekly. The piece is too big to clean with water and detergent and I know that I can’t leave flux on for a week at a time.
Any comments and help would really be appreciated as I keep going over everything in my head and am getting more and more scared about actually starting the project!
Many thanks!!

Yes you can use Kwik-Clean and then re-flux, absolutely no problem. If you’re leaving the piece for a while half done you can wrap in saran wrap or put in a ziploc or plastic bag if small enough. I hope that helps. Thanks for your question Carol.

HI Millie. I love your advice! I’m new to stained glass and am wondering if I build the project with the paper pattern underneath the glass, Do I need to remove the pattern before soldering? It looks like you solder with the pattern in place underneath, but won’t this start a fire when the hot solder leaks through the seam and hits it underneath the glass. Clear as mud? Hope I explained my question thoroughly enough! Thanks for any help you can give me with this. Rebecca

You can either build the stained glass with the pattern under the glass or you can cut templates of the shapes, stick them on the glass and cut around them. This method means you have to print another pattern so that you can place all the cut pieces on the pattern to check the fit. There’s a whole page on the different methods here.
No fires occur as the solder loses heat quickly and not a lot gets through to the other side anyways.
I hope that helps Rebecca.

Hi Milly love ur tips. How do I get smooth solder lines it drives me crazy
and I’m still New been doing it a year and when I try to fix and make it one straight lines sometimes I make it worse will that lift method help with this. I know I have to stop being a perfectionist and it’s hopefully practice will help to get it smooth

The hold and lift is a good place to start as you’re more in control of the solder. You can start speeding up once you get the hang of it. It does take time to get those lovely smooth lines so don’t lose patience. Good luck.

This could be one of many things Daria.
The stained glass copper foil might be lifting because you are going over and over the same area too many times and not letting it cool in between.
It could be that you didn’t stick it on properly.
Your iron could be too hot.
I have a page that goes into lots of solutions for copper foil not sticking here.
I hope that helps.

Hi Debra, if you can get the copper foil to stick to the metal then you can solder it. You can also solder directly to some metals so you might try cleaning the metal up within an inch and seeing if it takes the stained glass solder. Worth a try. Good luck!

I’m making a couple of panels for my buffet and I’m finding that, after soldering, when I go to clean the panel with Dawn, baking soda and toothbrush, the flux is leaving a messy brown crust around all the seams. I have to scrape it off with a sharp edge and I’m afraid I’ll scratch the glass. What am I doing wrong?

Hi Jessica, the trouble with patina is that there’s lots of variables and lots of solutions. Some of the variables are: impurities in the water, types of solder, flux and patina, types of polish and wax! You see the problem? Have you tried Kwik Clean spray for cleaning? That helps with the unsightly residue.
Oxidation is unavoidable and will return eventually so you will always have to do a quick ‘once over’ every so often to spruce up your panels.

Hi, When I make ornaments I thoroughly clean with soapy water to get all flux off. I then I polish with semichrome. But inevitably within a short time I still get oxidation. Very frustrating to after all the work I put into it.
Please HELP what can I do?

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About Me

I'm Milly Frances and I've been working with stained glass for over - yikes! - 20 years now, both as a professional artist and as a trained teacher. I also play 5-a side football (badly).
My biggest love is working alongside people early in their stained glass journey and giving them the confidence to find their own artistic direction.

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